princess day - hina matsuri

Another week over. The weeks seem to go by so quickly these days.
Today is the hina matsuri (princess festival; literally translated), or what is known as girls day. (**from the internet - In every house where they have girls (usually under the age of 15; you can find amazing ornate dolls. The dolls are packed back in boxes before the midnight, not to be late because the girls will not get married. If the day is wet (like it is today), then you should wait till it's fine to pack the dolls away in case of mildew etc.. It is custom to eat or give special ohina matsuri sweets that are typically of a pastel pink, light green and pure white sweets (pink being the sakura, white being snow and green being the trees/nature). All very symbolic huh... Note: Boys festival is celebrated on May 5th.

For me, well didn't exactly celebrate the hina matsuri but did have some great chocolate cake (Goitti) from Mitsukoshi, eventhough its not really the theme for today. In the end, does anyone really care that much?.. One should treat themselves to something if they desire, whether it is a symbolic day or not. However, for those that forget or don't bother anyway, then we have those specially designed days - i.e Girls Day, Boy's Day, Valentine's Day, Birthdays, Anniversary's... I guess I should go to the temple tomorrow to pray for a belated hina matsuri wish...just in case...

I had my weekly Japanese lesson. Nothing too much to report on that. Just sometimes I wonder if I can keep up these kind of things. Usually I am right into it at the start and then after the third or fourth time, I usually lose interest. So far the teacher has been pretty good, but can see my motivation lacking somewhat. Hmmm...

Did go to yoga tonight. Was a very tough session and my thighs felt like jelly straight after class! Yikes! Hot bath that is for sure! Ease those aches and pain! (And here I was thinking I was fairly fit and strong...!)

Met up with good friend Z for a macrobiotic Japanese dinner. Amazing food, great company and generally a nice relaxing night to the end of the week. This is the kind of food I miss when I am away from Japan. Just take the selection of food for granted and then when its not there, that's when you realise it that you miss it. I guess the same rule can be applied to anything. People as well. To take life or friends for granted (so easily done too), is the worse thing you can do. But how do we not take the simple things in life for granted? Just to live in the moment, to cherish what you have and who you are are some things one can think about. I am still struggling with living in the moment, as it is so hard not to think about the future, or next week or tomorrow. As they say, make hay while the sun shines; tomorrow may never come..

Time waits for noone.
Unknown